What’s in Seattle ?

[4wanderingeyes]

So our next cruise is out of Seattle heading to Alaska. My wife lived in Seattle like in the ‘90’s, I have never been there, and my wife is excited to show Seattle off to me, at least what she remembers of it 30+ years ago.

I don’t read anything good about Seattle, and I haven’t had any excitement of doing anything there, but my wife wants to go do stuff while we are there.

Any recommendations? Motels? Areas to stay? She thinks staying downtown and doing the space needle is a great idea. I’m not convinced being in downtown Seattle is high on my priority list. We will only have 1 day to do stuff prior to having to go to the cruise terminal, but I would love to know what is safe to do, and where is safe to stay.

I have seen enough zombie neighborhoods in LA, and Vegas, I don’t need to see more homeless camps, and people flopping on the side of the roads.

 

[chucker66]

The fish market downtown is pretty cool. Also, the chewing gum wall is there but kind of gross. Lots of homeless and vagrants which is always nice, but you can go to Minneapolis to see that as well. That's all I recall from my short visit there a few years ago.

 

[Telemark]

I went to Seattle in the 90s, and I also thought it was cool. That was the heyday of Grunge music and Seattle coffee culture, before Starbucks was a global behemoth. My cousins had cars, so we could go all over. These days, it seems to be an expensive ultra-liberal shell of its former self, centered around Amazon and Microsoft.

If you don't have a car, you may as well stay downtown. Pike Place Market, the Seattle Aquarium, and the Space Needle are the top attractions. You can eat some good food downtown. There are museums, restaurants, bars, and the normal city stuff. They also have ferries to various places, but you probably don't have time for that, and you're going on a cruise anyway.

If I were going to Alaska, I would stay at the Arctic Club Hotel. It's relevant to the theme of your trip, and there is a nice bar where you can relax in the afternoon. I don't know where the cruise ships go from, but the hotel is right by the ferry terminal on Alaskan Way. From there you can go North along the waterfront and visit the piers. I think there is a shuttle that goes up and down Alaskan Way for tourists.

Honestly, I don't know anything about any of the other hotels in Seattle. If your wife is really keen to be your tour guide in the city, I would just let her. She knows you best, and she probably knows the city well.